Friday, February 29, 2008

I take my camera with me every day, wherever I go. I commute on the same route and sometimes wonder why I'm bringing it, because nothing much changes. But it does. Every day the sky is different, heading to work and heading home.

February 29, 4 years ago, the son of the maintenance worker in my office was killed in a terrible car crash-5 young teens died, and his son was driving. I don't know how he gets up every morning and puts one foot in front of the other. I know my situation could be so much worse, and I know I'm lucky that I have never had a child die.

I think of his heartache every day when I see him, and today, on February 29th, I wonder if it's a good thing that this date only comes around every four years. Or if it even matters.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Red Dog is The Attorney's Dog. She is the most obstreperous of the three. She also has the best personality. Sometimes when The Attorney is rubbing her jowels, she makes a great, yawn-like face and noise, which I caught on camera.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Our local art museum, which as I have mentioned previously is right near my home, has a wonderful restaurant outside of which is a patio where there are frequently private parties-weddings and the like. It's a lovely setting inside an enormous, tree-filled park. We eat lunch there when we have a day off during the week-it feels like such a luxury to eat in the museum, even though it is reasonably priced. They serve a terrific African Peanut Soup. It' what I order every time.

Sometimes when I'm eating there and looking out the window onto the patio, I dream that one of my daughters may agree to have her wedding here some day.

Monday, February 25, 2008

(This is the outfit my baby girl was wearing when I met her-she wore it home on the plane.)I have always told my Older Daughter she was born to fly. Our beginning together was marked by flight-I picked her up in Texas and flew her home to Boston with me. A tiny, premature baby, at 9 weeks she was the size of a newborn: just under 8 pounds. She was a star traveler. We took a 10-seat plane from her little home town, made a connection in Dallas, our connecting flight was delayed, we were on the road for more than 12 hours. She never cried.

And such has been her life-she has traveled all over the world, with me and without me, and has loved every second. She is organized, optimistic, and hopeful in her approach to each of life's adventures. When I took her to London for five days when she was six, she packed her own suitcase, and didn't forget a thing.

She called on Wednesday. I was having a difficult day until I heard her high, excited voice chirping over the phone. "Mommy? I won't be in New England for winter next year." I knew what that meant, but I played along. "You won't, Sweetie? Why not?" "Because I'll be in Paris!" She is spending her entire Junior year studying in Paris. While I will miss her more than I can even express, I am so happy for her. She is a person for whom life's doors have burst open with the help of her own determination and good will.

I'm proud of you, OD. You have worked hard for this opportunity, and you deserve it.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

There are probably as many great fountains in our city as there are murals. I'm on the search for them to show you. As much as I love the early morning light on a sunny day,and how blue it makes everything, I wish this fountain were not in the shade. Have a great weekend!

Friday, February 22, 2008

My spouse, The World's Best Bleeding Heart Attorney (so named because she is exactly that) loves breakfast. Me? Not so much. I'm happy with an English muffin and a cuppa joe. Or nothing. But occasionally, we do go out for breakfast. Look how shiny clean the floor is in this restaurant. She was busy deciding on an omelet, and I was busy trying to get some decent photos. Everybody was happy.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

I always wanted daughters. I was thrilled both times when the adoption agencies had girls for me, and Gigi was the most wonderful addition to our family. Despite the heartache I am enduring now with one of my girls, I would never have traded the experience of parenting three daughters for anything. Until 2006, however, when Gigi joined us at 18, I never had a daughter who would wear anything that looked "boyish" to her. I swear, this is not something I fostered. When I was walking through the store and saw these unbelievably vibrant, wonderful shirts, I thought how there would have been no way that I could have talked either Older Daughter or Younger Daughter into wearing one of them with a pair of overalls, which I would have thought looked terrific. I also thought I was sorry they were only in little boy sizes, because Gigi would wear one of the blue ones now with some baggy jeans and white sneakers. And she'd look great.

(Thank you to my good friend, Rev. Dr. Mom, who pointed out that I messed up the numbering of my posts. It is now corrected.)

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I take pictures every day. I post pictures every day. However, I do not necessarily post every day the picture that I took that day. Sometimes I get a great picture of a painted wall, but I'm in a portrait mood, or some such thing. Seeing as the point of this 365 exercise is to shoot and post daily, and I'm doing that, I feel like I have poetic license, no?

These moon shots were taken last evening. The top one was taken from the parking lot at my job. The bottom was taken from my front yard, 18 minutes later. I love the moon, and I love the sky, and I love trees.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Pretty much wherever you go in my city, you can find a display like this. If anyone out there is dying for an Elvis postcard from Memphis, email me your name and address, and I will happily oblige. You can let me know if you want Young Elvis, Old Elvis, Ultra-Tacky, whatever...I can find it.Have a great day!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Several years ago, I hated my job. I dreaded going in every morning and was miserable all day. For my birthday that year, The World's Best Bleeding Heart Attorney gave me this Zen Beach in a Box for my office-a place where I could go in my mind to distract me from the troubles of the day. It has been a long time since I was unhappy at work, but I have carted this beach with me from office to office. We are getting ready to move to new office space, and I am faced with packing it up and getting it over there. I tell you something: these days, I stare at the thing more and more.I won't have a window in my new office, and that bums me out. Where I am now, I get great light all day from the south.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

These balls are on the sidewalk outside the mega-arena named after the largest local company. OK, so I get the tennis ball, the basketball, the baseball and soccer ball. But what is that red and white thing that looks like a bomb?

Friday, February 15, 2008

We had a great night with terrific food, nice wine, and wonderful time together. This morning we ate breakfast and nosed around downtown a little. Later, I'll post a whole set on Flickr, but here's a taste of our morning for y'all.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

My Valentine and I are escaping for a change of focus. I may not post tomorrow, but if I don't, I'll double-post on Saturday. We have a house/dog sitter, and we're sneaking off to a great hotel for a romantic Valentine's Day and some time to just be us.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

This is one of my favorite murals in the city. The problem is that the only time of day that there are not too many cars to get a shot (this store is on the corner of a very busy intersection)is first thing in the morning when the shadows are so deep. I watched the artist paint this over a period of some days, and it was wonderful to see Mr. Frog emerge.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Although this was not taken today, I wanted to get my friend's permission before plastering her face on the internets. If you look closely, you can see me in the reflection of her ultra-cool sunglasses. Doesn't she have a great smile? I was as happy to be there as she seems to be.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

The easiest way I can think of to have someone under total supervision is to try to go places they won't hate going, and take them along. Seven a.m. is not her favorite time of day, and as you can see on her face, she's still not "herself" but she willingly joined me on my trip to the coffee shop this morning and later to the park to walk the dogs.We're muddling through the best we know how.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Today I had the most wonderful day! I took off on my own for a wonderful Blogger Meetup with Linda from Against A Brick Wall. Linda was one of the first bloggers with whom I corresponded other than in comments. We've been "talking" for almost three years. Finally, we met for a great lunch and an afternoon at the Clinton Presidential Library. It was a terrific visit and a happy day with my friend.

Friday, February 8, 2008

The early morning sun made the frost look blue and the grass look yellow. This sculpture is on the grounds of the art museum that is within walking distance of my home. Sometimes I drive around the grounds in the morning for some personal peace.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Sometimes, when your life is totally upside down, you have to pretend things are normal. Sometimes, you just need to stop by the cat shelter on the way to work and snap a picture of a kitty through the window, to feel like you're ok. Perhaps I could have photoshopped out the milky reflection lines, but I didn't. I'm lucky I'm putting one foot in front of the other.That is all.

Monday, February 4, 2008

She's alive, and she's home. We are exhausted. We've been at the hospital and assault unit of the police department all day.I thank you all for your outpouring of love and concern.We will be ok, I just know it.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

When the mist begins to lift in the park down the street, the colors of the leaves, grass, and trees begin to reveal themselves. We get this mist a lot in the winter, because it goes from warm to cold to warm with such speed.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Music is a huge part of our city. It is not unusual to see a reference to music (and not just Elvis) on a business sign. Here you see a reference to STAX Recording Studios, a huge influence on the Soul Music of the 60's. I pulled over on the way to Younger Daughter's school to get this shot when the traffic was not so heavy that I had to dodge the cars to take a picture.